Cardinals vs. Seahawks: 4 things to know about Week 16's game

The Seattle Seahawks clinched the NFC West championship last Thursday with a win over division rival Los Angeles, and this Saturday they’ll look for a win that’ll give them a shot at clinching the NFC’s two seed.

These two teams ended in a 6-6 tie back in Week 7 after field goal kickers from both teams failed to convert on the game-winning kick. Hopefully, this game won’t have the same result.

Here are four things to know heading into Saturday’s game.

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Sherman vs. Fitzgerald

The marquee matchup Saturday will be Richard Sherman against Larry Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald currently leads the league in receptions with 98. The last time he finished the season leading in that category was back in 2005 (103). But Fitzgerald’s history going up against Sherman shows the Seattle cornerback has the edge. In the six games they’ve faced each other, quarterbacks are just 7-for-22 when throwing Fitzgerald’s way with Sherman covering, leading to zero touchdowns and three interceptions.

Beware David Johnson

The Seahawks have a top-10 rushing defense and currently rank second in scoring defense, which is good news for them since they’ll be facing one of the league’s best running backs in David Johnson. This season, Johnson became the first player in NFL history with 100-plus scrimmage yards in his first 14 games. Barry Sanders holds the record with 15-straight games (Sanders failed to get 100 scrimmage yards in the first game of his 1997 MVP season). I’m sure the Seahawks defense would love to end that streak.

Wilson against the Cardinals

Russell Wilson has been having an up-and-down season to say the least, and the Seahawks would love for him to refine his game and show some consistency heading into the postseason. That starts Saturday against Arizona. For his career, Wilson is 5-3-1 against the Cardinals (2-2 at home) with 13 touchdowns, four interceptions and a passer rating of 91.9. The problem for Wilson is that he has thrown four touchdowns and three interceptions at home against Arizona with a passer rating of just 77.7.

Going undefeated at home

Seattle is 7-0 so far this season at CenturyLink Field, the only remaining undefeated home team in the NFL. They are averaging 28 points per game at home while holding opponents to just 14.6. If they can beat the Cardinals, it’ll be their first undefeated season at home since 2012.